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Unacceptable Risk: The Failure Of Georgia’S “Guilty But Intellectually Disabled” Statute And A Call For Change, Logan Purvis
Unacceptable Risk: The Failure Of Georgia’S “Guilty But Intellectually Disabled” Statute And A Call For Change, Logan Purvis
Georgia Law Review
In 1988, Georgia became the first state in the nation to prohibit the execution of intellectually disabled criminal defendants. At the time, this groundbreaking action played a critical role in shaping the national debate surrounding the criminal justice system’s treatment of this group of individuals, culminating in the United States Supreme Court’s own prohibition in 2002. A drafting error in Georgia’s statute, however, created a highly prejudicial process for determining intellectual disability, all but ensuring that the law’s protections are unattainable for those who seek it. Despite this error, Georgia’s process has remained the same since the statute’s enactment with …
Complicated Mercy: Compensating The Wrongfully Convicted In Georgia, Elizabeth O'Roark
Complicated Mercy: Compensating The Wrongfully Convicted In Georgia, Elizabeth O'Roark
Georgia Law Review
An exoneree’s story does not end when they walk out of prison and back into society. After spending years in prison for a crime they did not commit, the exoneree must rebuild a life with years of lost income, little credit, and no retirement. Georgia is one of the few states that does not have a statute setting out how to fairly and efficiently compensate its exonerees. Exonerees must instead ask state representatives to present a resolution to the General Assembly. If the resolution passes through both chambers of the legislature, then the exoneree can receive some compensation for the …